WH 40K Space Marines - WIP +1

Finished the troops, but still need to paint the Sergeant and Captain.

The bases also need flocking - I will have to research to see what would look appropriate. I don't think they'll look right if I flocked them the same as historicals or even Fantasy Empire.

After the Sergeant and Captain, I'll be on the lookout for a Land Speeder.

WH 40K Space Marines - WIP

Well, never say never...here is my very first attempt at Warhammer 40K - a unit of Space Marines - not even sure what type, although I picked up a Space Marine codex (I think that's what its called) from a store that was, unfortunately for the owner, going out of business and selling remaining stock at 50 percent off. I feel for the guy, but figured I was helping him out by buying something. The Space Marines themselves were an ebay purchase that was too good to pass up. The Captain is also another ebay purchase - again for a fraction of the cost new.  Anyway here there they are painted with the basic uniform colors of light blue and orange.

 

The colors are based on the old Porsche 917 Gulf Racing colors - the one used in the movie Le Mans with Steve McQueen.

I suppose the fluff would be the Chapter originating on the planet Le Mans with the original Chapter Master being one Stevonius McQueenus.

For the record, I tried using the Drakenhof Nightshade Citadel Shade (wash) over a white undercoat, thinking I could easily get a nice light blue finish. It didn't quite work out - the wash made some areas a dark blue, almost black. So I went ahead and gave the figures a dry-brush of light blue. This was my first use of Citadel paint of any type and don't see any real advantage over Vallejo, which is what I've used for several years now.

Lizardmen 1 - The Empire 0 - WHFB Grudge Match

Pat L (Socal Warhammer) and I met at the Gig Harbor GW store (run by a nice young lady). My Empire guys totally crushed his Lizardmen - well, that's what I wish really happened. As it was, the Lizard King still rules. I did get the first kill though - defeating and over running some of his units early on. Here are a few pics of the game - Pat's Lizardmen army looked awesome too. For this game the Empire troops left the Hurricanum and War Altar back home in Talabheim. As usual I managed to roll misfires for my Steam Tank steam points - but, as usual the Demigrpyhs and Knights did well.

Pat used his spells to good effect and kept successfully getting some of his units to appear behind my lines. Hence the crossbowmen with Wizard facing about.

I can't complain much, though as I didn't plan on using my Wizard at all - I wanted to run a "human-only" army strong on shooting troops. Okay, the Demigryphs are a concession to Fantasy - but they always do well - even with only 3 figures. We did stay at 2,500 points though.

I didn't get to use my Pistoliers too much, as they were killed off early on - but next time, I plan to use them more aggressively.

It was a good to play again as I hadn't gamed for over a month. I also haven't picked up a brush in awhile too, but have several projects pending - including some 40K Space Marines! Haven't played 40K yet, but chanced upon some really good deals on ebay and wanted to try painting some up.

Pat really has some very cool Fantasy armies - and he is a really good coach and mentor.

WHFB Empire Airship - Test Flight

Edit: some outdoor photos -

Finished the balloon and added it to the top of the ship. It's fairly secure, but I may replace the mast with a wooden dowel that would run through the bottom of the ship to a movement platform.

The fins are made from card stock, and the netting is another old Lego find in a box of odds and ends. The flag on the top of the balloon is from the Demigryph set.

The rigging was modified by joining to sections to lengthen it to meet the netting. The joint between each section of the rigging are beads from Joann's.

The balloon was given a wash of Future floor wax mixed with Vallejo inks. I think I'll switch to the Future "magic dip" once the can of Minwax stain runs out. I like how fast the Future dries - about 15 minutes or so. It is also much easier to clean up - with water.

Tomorrow is a local Warhammer Fantasy Battles tournament at the FLGS - The Game Matrix. I'm using a mostly "human" Empire army. No Magic, Wizard, War Altar or Hurricanum. Taking two Witch Hunters though. There will be 5 games over the weekend, so much like the WAB GT earlier this year, but much closer to home.

WHFB Empire Airship - WIP +2

Started on the balloon. Two Styrofoam cones have been blued together with yarn glued along the length to replicated the seams. The ends of the cones have Lego parts from a kit long forgotten, but odd pieces fortuitously kept in a bin.

Tissue paper will be added over the foam once the yarn dries. Netting will then be draped over the balloon to accept the rigging coming up from the ship itself. Well, that's the plan anyway. Oh, and fins will also be added to the rear and possibly the front top. More to follow shortly.

A Watch Tower for The Empire

This was a pretty straight forward kit - not too many major components for the tower itself, but a fair amount of optional parts. It was first given a light coat of white spray paint, and then block painting select areas like the center blue band and yellow trim. It was then given a wash of Minwax Tudor Satin stain. The stain was a bit hard to control due to the size of the model. After it was dried and given a finish of Testors Dullcote, dry-brush highlights were added.

The smaller building can be used separately or placed on top of the tower.

The tower can also be the mooring for the airship.

 

Being my first GW terrain kit (besides the terrain board piece), I was suitably impressed with the ease of assembly and with the variety of optional/spare parts that I will likely get a few more select pieces in the future.

WHFB Empire Airship WIP +1

The ship is done - as well as the Master Engineer who pilots it, and one of the crewman - a gunner for the Repeater Handgun mounted on a swivel on the forward deck.

Added shields that were extras from the Order Knights kit. I believe the skull mounted at the rear is also from the Knights kit.

Here is a closeup of the Master Engineer peering through his navigating scope - a spare from the Hurricanum/Luminark kit. The Engineer's cape is from the Pistoliers kit, his arms are from the Archers kit.

The Repeater Handgun from the Pistoliers kit is mounted on a pedestal from the Hurricanum kit. The gun rest is from the Pirate Ship - not sure what it's for originally, but found it on the sprue and it looked useful.

The ship is now basically finished - once a proper hot air balloon is mounted rigging from the Pirate Ship kit will be added to platforms around the sides of the ship. The balloon will rest atop the top of the crow's nest at the top of the mast.

WHFB Empire Airship - WIP

Here is the Revell Pirate Ship painted with the main colors - black, red, gold and the natural wood decking. Still need to touch up here and there, but it is mostly done.

Added a few spare GW parts to "bling" it out. What made me want to get this kit was the skulls already included - one on the rear (taffrail?) and one on the front (figure head?).

I will be adding a few more GW spare parts like shields and a flag as well as more parts from the kit like the rigging that will go up to the hot air balloon. What will be used for the balloon itself is still up in the air. I'd like it to look something like an elongated football. Maybe with some da Vinci-like wings too.

Hochland and Talabecland Handgunners for the Empire

Got the standard bit parts in the mail today - painted them up for the Hangunner units for Hochland and Talabecland.

The Hochland unit is led by Hildegard von Konigsberg - a Raging Heroes figure.

 

I plan to swap the Halberdier and Crossbow Detachments out for these two Handgunner units to see how they perform as individual Regiments.

The Hochland's standard bears the Comet of Sigmar, and Talabecland's simply quartered.The standard bearers' right arms and handguns come from the Pistolier set; their heads from the Archer set.

Now I plan to fiddle around with the Airship.

WHFB Empire Handgunners and Master Engineers - WIP

Since my gaming buddy, Pat L. (Socal Warhammer) had to cancel out of our planned practice game today - I ended up working on two units of Handgunners as well as two metal Master Engineers. I picked all of them up off of ebay - the two Engineers were the price of one of the current new resin/plastic models. The Handgunners were two separate buys, both for about a $1.00 per figure. They are the older models, which match the other infantry types already in the army. Anyway, here they are freshly coated with Minwax Tudor Satin stain.

The Master Engineer with the Hochland Long Rifle will be the Marksman for a unit of Talabecland Handgunners. The other Master Engineer with Repeater Handgun will be used to assist a Great Cannon crew. The Handgunners are painted up representing a unit each from Hochland and Talabecland. I'm still waiting on another ebay purchase - a bits lot with standards and musician parts. The photo below shows them with a basic block paint job. The Handgunners were base coated with a light brown to take care of much of their equipment.

Finally, here is a shot of a 1/72nd scale Revell Pirate Ship model that was on clearance for $4.99 at the local Michael's. I hope to use it as an Airship. Behind it is a Denny's kid's drink cup in the shape of a rocket. I hope to convert this into a zeppelin to carry the Airship. Although 1/72nd scale, the deck is large enough to fit several figures.

Empire Reinforcements from Averland and Stirland

I managed to pick up a brush this weekend - a rather large brush at that. I didn't feel up to doing anything too detailed so painted up a unit each of WHFB Empire Pistoliers and Archers using the Minwax stain process. Here is a unit of Pistoliers hailing from Averland - a land famous for fine horses.

The Pistoliers were painted using a basecoat of Krylon Brilliant Silver which was then given a wash of Vallejo Black Ink/Stain. The Averland colors of yellow and black were only needed on the sleeves and pants - both very small areas. The Outrider champion wields a Repeater Handgun.

Next is a unit of Archers from Stirland - renown for their hunting and woodland skills. The green was highlighted after the stain - to make it pop a bit.

Here are some photos of the fairly simple and quick process used - a basic block paint job for the Archers and horses for the Pistoliers. The Archers and three of the horses were sprayed with a dark tan for an undercoat - which became the base colors for the Archers' coats and bows - as well as the horse flesh. The two other horses were given a coat of white.

Followed by a stain of Minwax Tudor Satin.

My buddy Pat L. (Socal Warhammer) and I plan to play a WHFB game next Friday. He is hosting a WHFB tournament next month at The Game Matrix - which I plan to attend. I had to cancel going to the Wet Coast GT up in Vancouver, B.C. this weekend due to my recent family business in Hawaii. Anyway, I hope you like these new troops for the Empire army and thanks for following the blog.

Just Checking In

Been out of touch for a while - just returned from visiting my family in Hawaii. A couple of weeks ago my brother succumbed to liver cancer - he was only 57. Well, the nice thing was he was visited by a nonstop flow of his friends and family while in the hospital. His funeral was attended by close to five hundred people. At the time of his illness and passing he was the Chief Boatswain for the NOAA ship Oscar Elton Sette. The representative from NOAA, a Commander, read a letter from a Rear Admiral which among other things called my brother a legend in the Pacific for NOAA. He will be sorely missed by many, but everyone has fond memories of him to cherish.

Anyway, I'm back in WA State and have a few small projects I hope to start on once I get back in the mood - whenever that may be. One thing I did while in Hawaii that was hobby related was stopping in a fantastic store called The Armchair Adventurer. It is run by a gentleman by the name of Glen Fong. He had a store at another location many years ago where he steered me into my first 28mm figures - Redoubt Trojan War figures. His store consists of several rooms with models, books, kits and board games stacked to the ceiling. He has untold boxes of old lead like 25mm Essex Napoleonics to newer plastics like Warlord Games and Perry. As for model kits he has one of a kind stuff like the submarine from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. I picked up a long OOP Warmaster Empire Hero on Griffon. It was just too cool not to get. Incidentally, Glen and I have little bit in common, we're both '79 high school grads from Hawaii and served in the US Army.